Toby's Revenge
by HyborianQueen
Summary: Sequel to Toby's Wish. Now twenty four and his own man, Toby has made a place for himself in the world. Though despite his own success, he can't forget about Sarah and the sacrifice she made for him seven years ago. Haunted by his sister's abduction, he has become obsessed with saving her from the Jareth's Labyrinth and taking retribution on the Goblin King. Evil Jareth.


**Author's Foreward**

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Greetings out there in LabyficLand!

I am finally back! I know the wait has been a little long one, due to my summer hiatus and the unfortunate difficulties I have been having with my computer but now I am back and anxious to be embraced by my eager readers! I want to thank all of you for your patience, particularly after my first monumental FAIL when I first tried posting, but if you would indulge me just a little, I would like to explain myself.

Firstly, I suffered a rather lengthy writer's block that occurred from June until late July, which I tried to cure with plenty of sun and strong cocktails. You'd think that would help but it really didn't. All I managed to do was get a particularly painful burn on my décolletage and murder about 60% of my liver. Surely I jest, but seriously if any of you out there reading this have type O blood and a clean medical history, please report to your nearest hospital to have a liver compatibility analysis done. That would be super great.

Anywho, liver annihilation aside, I did have the first chapter of Toby's Revenge (sequel to Toby's Wish) all typed up and ready for posting on September 1st. Then another catastrophe occurred in the form of a snafu on my Doc Manager that wouldn't let me upload! I gnashed and railed about the unfairness of it all to several of my correspondences on here, only to find a few days later that I was starting to have trouble getting onto other websites and managing my online accounts. I began to come to the realization that perhaps it wasn't this lovely website that was thwarting me after all but maybe, just maybe, there was something wrong with my computer. This point was hit home for me when my computer wouldn't allow me access to even the simplest of sites and started doing this really artful thing of chirping at me. That's right, you heard me, chirping.

I then decided it was time to call in the professionals so I made the call to my computerly gifted nephew who came over and after a few quick strokes on the keyboard, declared it had a nasty little virus. I blame myself entirely. I had let it canoodle with other computers of loose cyber morals. Slutty PC's aside, my talented nephew packed it up and took it away to give it a full once over and a good dose of digital penicillin.

Now, finally, after three weeks of EXCRUCIATING computer deprivation, I am at last back and ready to post Chapter 1 of Toby's Revenge! I would like to thank all of you for your patience and the encouraging PM's that you sent me and a special thanks to my talented nephew who made this all possible. I know it has been a wait for you all and I hope I don't disappoint you. I know quite a few of you have been waiting for it, if the alert adds are any indication (btw, thank you all for the adds!) and I am gladdened that so many of you will be continuing this trek with me! It is my greatest wish that you enjoy it. You all have inspired the very best of me and I hope Toby's Revenge lives up to your expectations.

With that being said I'm sure you are more than ready to get on with the show. So without further ado, the sequel to Toby's Wish, Toby's Revenge.

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Chapter One

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**Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. **

–The Old Man and Death

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**PART ONE**

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The sun shone brightly on his face. He could feel the tickle of a summer breeze tease his heated skin. The sweet smell of fresh grass was all about him and in a distance he could hear water fowl on the pond, splashing and honking.

It was summer again and Toby was glad of it. After a long and extremely arduous year of school, he trudged through it all and finally made it to the end into the bright sunshine of his favorite season.

And what a school year it had been!

He never thought he would make it through all the catastrophes he had: his parents' divorce scare, losing his scholarships, his break-up with Angie. It seemed like one overwhelming incident after another. It would have been enough to conquer a lesser teenager and truthfully, he didn't think he could handle one more defeat. But then, things turned around, quite unexpectedly and unexplainably.

First thing to turn around for him was his parents. They had quit their fighting and made steps towards reconciliation. They underwent marriage counseling and family therapy (which wasn't complete hooey to Toby's amazement) and his parents' relationship was stronger for it. The icy dinners and bitter confrontations at the front door were now a thing of the past. Peace and tranquility had settled in the Williams' household. Toby would often find his parents cozied up on the couch together when he'd get home nights, the image of parental contentment. In fact, his parents' marriage seemed stronger than ever, the evidence of such occurring on their twentieth wedding anniversary when his father surprised his mother with an impromptu vow renewal ceremony at their anniversary party. His mother was both surprised and elated and on April 21st, Roger and Karen Williams rededicated themselves to each other in front of family and friends. It was a beautiful occasion, filled with joy and the promise of a new beginning.

Things continued to pick up from there. Though his parents' reconciliation was the best outcome Toby could have hoped for, indeed, it was really the only one that mattered to him, there was the issue of losing his scholarship to Penn State and MSU. Despite the fact that he was resigned to it, he still felt the sting quite acutely and wasn't completely over his loss. But as the old saying goes, when one door closes another one opens. That spring, Toby had received a football scholarship from Ohio State. Although it wasn't one of his first choices, it certainly wasn't anything to scoff at so he accepted. With that, Toby's college dilemma was solved. In the fall, he would be starting his college career as an Ohio State Buckeye.

And so, everything was turning around for the some what traumatized boy. He had the comfort and love of a stable family life and the security of being accepted to a Big Ten college. It was more than he could have hoped for considering the string of bad luck he had at the beginning of the school year. Things were definitely starting to look up for the teenager.

But best of all was his reconciliation with Angie.

Their break-up had hit him pretty hard. He muddled through his daily routines, trying to put that part of his life behind him. For the most part, he was successful. He and Angie rarely interacted, except for in their American Lit class and that one time when they were in the lunch line together and Angie was short thirty-five cents. Toby dug the required amount out of his jeans pocket and offered it to her. Angie awkwardly accepted it and thanked him before retreating to her table. Their exchange was strained but cordial and their interactions might have ended there where it not for one wonderful day in March.

It was a rainy school day afternoon and Toby had stayed after to do some extra credit for Chemistry. Now that he was no longer in danger of failing his AL class and exerted some mastery over his World History course, he had to do a little repair on his Chemistry grade. He just finished with his extracurricular experiment on the varying ph levels of different household chemicals on red cabbage (which brought his previous grade of a D up to a respectable C-) and was leaving the school parking lot in his mother's car when he happened to glance up at the building's entrance and saw the last person he ever expected to see: Angie. She looked chilled and abandoned and he wondered why she was there at all. He could have kept going, indeed that would have been the most logical course considering their present situation, but instead he opted for the more chivalrous approach and offered her a ride.

At first, she was apprehensive, refusing his offer with the explanation that her mother was going to pick her up and she was just fine, but Toby could see through her flimsy excuse. Her mother wouldn't be off work until five o'clock and it was only twenty after four now which meant she would at least have another forty minute wait, if not more. With that rational, and a little coaxing, he persuaded her to accept his proffered ride.

For the first several minutes, the two teenagers didn't speak. The discomfort in the car was maddening to Toby until he finally broke the silence with the obvious question why she was stuck waiting for her mother. Angie explained that she had stayed after to help Mrs. Bach grade some book reports (she had officially graduated from teacher's pet to teacher's assistant) and was going to catch a ride home with Megan Franks, but the other girl had forgotten her commitment and left her friend behind. Toby made an off handed crack about how Megan wouldn't remember her own name if it wasn't stenciled on her knapsack which brought a slight chuckle from his passenger. With the initial tension broken, the floodgates of communication opened and they conversed easily for the rest of the trip.

After that, Toby and Angie gradually reestablished their pre-dating relationship, hanging out with each other before first bell and teaming up on reading assignments in American Lit. Angie was warming up to him more by the day and her friends became accepting of him again. Even Candace Shaw, who held particular hostility towards him, was starting to relax her icy demeanor and acknowledged his inclusion back into their group.

For the first time after their breakup, Toby was happy. The tension between him and Angie was gone and his life seemed back on track. Toby was pleased with their renewed friendship and was even content to leave it as such but fortune had bigger plans for him. During one of their after school homework sessions at Angie's house (even Mrs. Bernard welcomed Toby back into her good graces), the topic of Prom cropped up. It was un-intrusive at first, an offhanded remark about the incredulity of Jen Connor going to Prom with Chad Harter, but it quickly changed subject to who he would be taking. Toby was caught a little off guard by her question and said he planned to go stag with a couple of his friends. His answer seemed to please her and she admitted that she would be going solo as well, unless the right person asked her. Toby was a little naïve about where the conversation was going but realization dawned upon him when she gave him a half expectant look as if that were his cue. Then he knew, with definitive glee, that _he_ was the right person and she wanted _him _to ask her. Armed with this irrefutable knowledge, he did what he never expected to do again; he asked Angie Bernard out. She gladly accepted.

And that was how they rekindled their previously broken relationship. The two officially started dating again and it soon became serious. They were near inseparable for the rest of their senior year and even began planning their post high school life together. Though wearing the rose tinted glasses of young love, they both still realized it would be a long road. Toby would be off to Ohio State for at least four years and Angie would be attending Barnard University. With five-hundred plus miles and the entire state of Pennsylvania between them, time and distance would put their romance to the test. But the young pair refused to consider the possibility of breaking up again and with a lot of back and forth about who would be spending which breaks where, they came up with a loose itinerant to keep connected to each other between summer vacations.

And now here he was, relaxing in the sun, waiting for the noon hour to chime on the town clock, indicating to him when it would be time to leave to meet Angie at the local pool where she was working for the summer and take her to lunch. It was a glorious day, the sun shining as if just for the young lovers, promising more sunny days. Fate and fortune were on their side and they had their whole futures ahead of them. Yep, everything turned out perfectly.

Then why did it feel wrong?

A little crinkle formed on his brow as a sense of calamity hung over him. This didn't seem right to him. It was if he were forgetting something, something very important. But everything was flawless; the sun was warm, the grass was soft, in less than an hour he would be with the girl that made his heart skip a beat, what could possibly be amiss? He should be perfectly content, anything less would be ludicrous, but he couldn't help the ominous feeling that came over him.

Something was wrong, or more specifically, something was _missing_, something he just couldn't put his finger on. It was as if a fog took up residence in his mind, blurring his perception, keeping something very important just out of sight. The more he tried to peer through it, the murkier it got, and his sense of foreboding began to morph into an inexplicable desperation. Something _was_ wrong, _terribly wrong_, something that he had forgotten. He knew he shouldn't have forgotten it, and battled with the mist in his brain to bring it forward, to remind him of…..something, something important, something missing, something he had _lost_….

"Mind if I join you?"

The question broke the teenager's concentration and gave him a slight start. Toby opened his eyes and squinted to see where the voice had come from. The sun was high over head and dazzled his eyes. He could only make out the dark outline that the speaker imposed against the blazing sun above him and it wasn't until a cloud rolled in blocking some of its brilliance could he recognize the silhouette. He smiled up at her.

"Sure," he agreed gamely, "Take a seat."

Toby sat up from where he had spread out, propping himself up with his long arms and his legs stretched lazily out in front of him. His midday intruder settled in the grass some three feet away from him, mirroring his sprawl, tilting her head to catch the warm summer's sun, smiling as she did.

"Such a gorgeous day," she sighed happily, "So warm and sunny. I could just stay here like this forever."

Toby hmm'ed in agreement and gazed skyward. It was a beautiful day, clear and shining, with only a few white puffs dotting the heavens, breaking up its endless blue.

"Yeah, it sure is a lazy day," he agreed. He redirected his eyes away from the sky back to his company, "But I don't think you came all the way out here to lay around in the grass with me. What's up sis?"

Sarah looked over at him and for the briefest second he thought he saw a twinge of guilt cross her face, as if he had just caught her in a lie. But when he blinked, it was gone, as if it had never been there. Her mouth was caught up in a cheery smile and her eyes shined with amusement. He began to doubt what he first thought he saw; perhaps it was just a shadow across her face. It was possible, with the clouds beginning to move in, their forms shading those beneath them, the lighting could be playing tricks on his eyes.

"Do I have to be up to something just to want to spend time with my favorite little brother?" her tone was mocking, but pleasingly so. Her eyes twinkled at him. "Since when have you become such a Doubting Thomas?"

Toby harrumphed at her assessment of him and smirked. "When aren't you up to something when you're spreading it on that thick?" A smile of his own tugged at the corners of his mouth. "And who are you trying to bs with this 'favorite little brother' crap? I'm you're _only_ brother!"

Sarah laughed at him, the sound melodious and tinkling. It made his heart swell with joy. It felt so good to hear her laugh! He didn't know why, but it made him happier than he could have imagined.

"I don't see why 'favorite' and 'only' need to be exclusive!" she said, laughter still edging her words, "And if you're quite done with taking offense where none is meant, I'd like to spend some time catching up with my favorite/_only_ little brother!"

She smiled at him eagerly. He thought there was a little anxiousness in the way she looked at him but it wasn't unusual in and of itself.

"What's there to catch up on?" he shrugged. "I'll be going to Ohio here in the fall and Angie and I got back together."

He paused. It seemed odd telling her about these things, surely it was something that she would already know, seeing that these events have been transpiring over _months_. But she hasn't been around lately so how could she know it –

"And Dad and Karen?" she prompted, "How are they doing?"

Her question sent up another flag of suspicion. Surely she was aware of their reconciliation, she was there at their twentieth anniversary – wait – no, she wasn't. She had missed it. But why wasn't she there?

"Well?" she pressed him, "How are they?"

Toby looked back at his sister with befuddlement. Sarah was acting weird, but he couldn't figure out what it was. It seemed as though this interaction they were having was nothing out of the normal, but he was starting to feel uneasy about it. Why did he have such an….off…. feeling about it?

"Oh, you know mom and dad; they're still acting like a couple of teenagers in love." Sarah's grin broadened exponentially, as if someone just told her she won the lottery. Her reaction wasn't a bad one but it just compounded the funny feeling he was getting about her.

"So what's been up with you?" he finally asked, still confused about the eerie sensation that was coming over him.

Sarah's smile faltered and alarm raced across her eyes. She seemed nervous and a little worried by his question. But perhaps it was the swing the weather was starting to take that was concerning her. The previously docile clouds had become menacing. Where they were once before white and puffy, they had started darkening, a possible storm gathering at its heart.

By the time he drew his eyes away from the sky and back to his sister, she had regained her composure.

"It's just the same old-same old," she told him dismissively. "A little bit of this a little bit of that, you know how it is with me –"

"That's just the thing, I **don't **know how it is with you," he interrupted, his gnawing suspicion getting the better of him. "It seems like forever since you've been around, at least not since –" he stopped, unable to finish his sentence. He tried to think of the last time he had seen his sister but the fog was back, blocking his train of thought.

Sarah tried to steer the conversation in another direction.

"You know, it's too nice of a day to be bothered by that," she lifted her eyes heavenward as she leaned back on her arms. "Look Tobes, I think the clouds are clearing up and the sun's coming back out again!"

Toby wasn't about to be that easily distracted. There was something wrong, _this was wrong,_ all of it, his meeting with Sarah, him going off to college in the fall, Angie and his relationship –

The sun chose just that moment to peep out from between the clouds and beam down upon the two siblings. As he looked at her, something glinted in the sunlight catching his attention.

"What's that?"

She stared down at what her brother was pointing to. There, encircling her left wrist was an intricate silver bracelet.

Sarah paled.

"That?" she asked, trying to sound dismissive. Her right hand moved quickly to cover the object of his curiosity. "That's nothing," she added hastily, "I've had this old thing for years."

Even though Toby didn't recognize the silver piece of jewelry, he knew it none the less. The sight of it stirred him with disgust and apprehension. It had no business being on her wrist.

"What are you doing wearing that…_.__**thing**_," his mouth rejected naming the offensive object.

"It's _nothing_," she insisted. She closed her eyes with a pained expression. "It's nothing for you to worry about and it certainly isn't something that should be ruining our time together!" she tried to persuade him.

Toby was not about to give up.

"But it _is_ something! That thing is _**bad **_Sarah, and you shouldn't have it on!"

The desperation that he had been feeling before was upon him again, only this time he wasn't content to try to muddle through it as he was before. His mind reeled frantically; trying to clear the haze that had invaded it, to push through it, to see what it was trying to hide –

"Oh Toby, why?" came a mournful voice.

He halted his inner search and looked at his sister. Her eyes were open once more and they reflected a deep sorrow from somewhere in her soul. It nearly broke his heart to see it.

"Why couldn't you leave well enough alone and enjoy our visit?" she asked sadly, her head dipping with grief. "Why did you have to go and spoil things?"

Toby's mouth dropped open in confusion. What did he do? What the hell was she talking about? Before he could string his thoughts together to express them to her, a loud crack of thunder rumbled nearby.

It frightened both him and Sarah and Toby craned his head around to discern where it had come from. The clouds where much darker now, more a charcoal color than the heather grey they were before. A storm was coming there was no doubt of that.

He turned back to his sister to suggest they head for sanctuary away from the encroaching tempest only to find the spot where she had been sitting vacated. Bewildered at her sudden disappearance, he stood up, scanning the park trying to find some clue as to where she could have gone. There was no sign of her anywhere.

"Sarah?" He gazed about the park. There was no answer.

"Sarah!" he called out a little more frantically.

A wind whipped up around him, spattering him with vagrant raindrops, warning him of the torrent that was about to engulf him. It carried with it a disembodied voice, speaking in Sarah's sweet melody, now marred with fear.

"Be careful, he's coming."

Thunder boomed again, drowning out any other sounds that might have been around him. The wind grew in strength and gusted about him jeopardizing his balance, then it fled before the driving rain that was now unleashed, stinging his exposed skin. The gale blew and blustered around him but instead of being deafened by its force, he could hear a low, threatening laughter that was now entangled with it.

All the apprehension and desperation he had been feeling up until then was now suffocated by the fear that ominous laugh instilled in him. It was an irrational, all consuming fear that held him in its tight grasp. Toby couldn't run, indeed he couldn't even move, it was like he was cemented to that spot where he was previously soaking up the sun's warm rays. He could only cup his hands above his brow in a vain attempt to protect his eyes as he searched about for refuge from the storm and that horrible laughter.

"Who are you?" he yelled out, his voice cracking with fright. "What do you want from me?"

His only answer was more laughter. Toby sank down to the ground, placing his hands over his ears, trying to block out the awful laugh that still buzzed in his head, brimming with wicked mirth. It paralyzed him with dread and terror. He felt hopeless and helpless as he shivered on his knees in the assaulting rain, that evil laughter all around him, invading his mind and soul.

But somewhere deep in his subconscious, a tiny part of him awoken and was attempting to fight back, to save himself from this terrible entity that had him in its clutches. He _knew_ this danger, he had faced it before, and he knew how to deal with it.

He buckled forward, onto his hands and knees, as that horrible laugh continued to assail his senses, forcing the fog back into his tormented mind. But Toby fought back, somehow keeping it at bay, working through how to defeat this menace, _remembering_ what he was once told, long ago, by his sister –

Finally it came to him as clearly as if he were looking through a polished pane of glass. He dragged himself to his knees, then eventually brought himself to a standing position, fighting against the downpour that strove to push him back down, keep him under its control and at its mercy. But Toby wasn't about to relinquish himself back into its grasp.

"I know who you are!" he shouted out loudly. The wind and rain drove into him harder at his declaration, trying to beat him down. He stood stubbornly, tilting into the wind, hands clenched into fists, eyes blazing.

"You're Jareth, you're the Goblin King!" he shouted on, even louder, defying the maelstrom, "And **YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!**"

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**PART TWO**

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At that moment, there was a light grip on his left shoulder, startling the young man at its suddenness. Toby lashed his head around with wide, frightened eyes, to see what was accosting him now.

Much to his surprise, it wasn't the evil king of the goblins that tortured him those many years ago, but a startled and confused stewardess, dressed in a brown vest and slacks. She looked down at him with worried curiosity.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Her simple concern helped ground him back into reality. He swiftly glanced around at his surroundings. He was no longer in a grassy meadow but in the metal belly of an airplane, flying back from California to New York. He wasn't alone in a deserted park but among several other passengers, in different stages of rest and wakefulness on the late flight. He wasn't that seventeen year old adolescent with school and girls on his mind but a twenty four year old man, just getting a footing in life. The illusion of his dream was swiftly fading, like the evening star at dawn's first light.

He jerked his head, shaking off the last remnants of his dream, when he realized the stewardess was asking him a question.

"Huh?" he said, settling his sleep blurred eyes back upon her. She gave him the job required smile.

"I said: would you like me to bring you something?" she repeated her inquiry for him. "Perhaps, you'd like a drink to steady your nerves?"

Toby shot a look at the tray that was attached to the seat before him. The plastic glass that once held his ginger ale was empty.

"Um, yes, please, that would be nice," he told the polite woman as he handed her his empty cup. "A Beam and Coke if you don't mind."

The stewardess just smiled again and left him to make her way up the aisle to the drink cart that was stowed away between first and second class, to fetch his drink. Toby let out a shaky sigh once she departed and ran his hand through his hair. His dream had left him shaken and a little on edge. He gazed around the dimly lit airplane to see if anyone else had been disrupted by his nightmare. Most of his fellow passengers were asleep or engaged in their own activities to pay him much mind. He had connected to a late flight out of Chicago and there were a few empty seats scattered about. Luckily one of those empty seats was the window seat next to him. He peered out the diminutive window into the darkness that enshrouded the plane. After a little bit, he glanced down at his watch: it read 3:18am. It would be at least another hour until they touched down in New York. He would need something to help pass the time and sleep was definitely off the itinerary.

He reached across to the empty seat beside him that he was using to store his take on luggage that carried his laptop in it. But it wasn't his computer that he was reaching for but a book that was stashed underneath it. He pulled it out and set it on the top of his bag. By that time, his stewardess had returned with his cocktail in her hand.

"Here you go sir," she spoke lowly to him as to not disturb any of the other passengers, "Your Beam and Coke." She placed his drink in the circular receptacle in his tray. "That will be five-seventy five please."

Toby reached in his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and handed her a worn ten dollar bill. He thanked her and told her to keep the change. This time the smile she gave him wasn't a job requirement.

Once the grateful stewardess left, Toby took a swig of his drink and sputtered a little at its potency.

'_God love her, she mixes them strong,'_ he thought to himself as he took a more careful sip of the concoction. This time he was prepared for it and the spirited fluid went more easily down his throat, coating it with liquid warmth. It took a few moments for the alcohol to do its job and ease his semi-frazzled nerves.

Once the effects of the liquor took hold he started to relax a bit. His nightmare was fading and the security of the real world setting in. He was a little unsettled by the effect his dream had on him. It wasn't as if he didn't have nightmares about his sister's abduction before (in fact, he could barely sleep right after it happened) but the intensity of this most recent one unnerved him. It seemed more to him than just a nightmare, almost as if he had lived it, and that was what had rattled him the most. Not willing to recount the events of his dream, he picked up the book from the seat next to him.

It was a large turquoise book that had aboriginal depictions of different beings and creatures on its front cover. Above these pictures was the title, 'Myths and Legends of the Northwest Tribes of America'. Toby rapidly flipped through the book to a page he had marked by giving it a dog eared fold on its top corner.

He stared at the page as if entranced.

There on the page was a picture of a pale man who was clothed in a cape of white feathers. There were markings on his face, particularly in the brow region, and on his shoulder perched a snowy white owl. There were odd little men, in a variety of colors, crowding around his feet, bowing to this being, acknowledging him as their sovereign. It made quite a scene, and even without reading the caption below it, Toby could tell that this was someone of significance in the early natives' folklore. But what was most interesting to Toby, the thing that was the key to his intense interest, was what the man held in his hand.

There, within the hand of his outstretched arm, was a crystal.

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**Author's Note: ** And there it is, my first chapter! I hope it was adequate enough to whet your appetite. Now that I got my precious computer back, I will labor to get you my second chapter asap. That is after I get caught up on all my social media and lolcats. Don't judge me, you don't know how I suffered! So please be merciful and leave me your reviews.


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